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Active packaging is one of the interesting concepts in food industry which extend the shelf-life of the food products. The purpose of this work was to develop nontoxic antimicrobial nanocomposite films. Benzyltrimethylammonium chloride modified montmorillonite (BMMT) were used as nano-filler and the prepared BMMT was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) plasticized cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) films with different ratios of PEG and CAB was prepared and it was found that the 20 wt% PEG in CAB matrix (CBP 20 ) gave optimal results in terms of mechanical properties. BMMT was mixed with CBP 20 in different proportions to prepare nanocomposites. 3 wt% BMMT loaded nanocomposite gave best in terms of the barrier and mechanical properties. The storage modulus, thermal stability, glass transition, and melting temperature of the nanocomposites increased with the loading of 1, 3, and 5 wt% of BMMT. Furthermore, these nanocomposites showed nontoxic and antimicrobial behavior., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Films based on methylcellulose (MC) and pectin (PEC) of different ratios were prepared. MC/PEC (90:10) (MP10) gave the best results in terms of mechanical properties. Sodium montmorillonite (MMT) (1, 3 and 5 wt%) was incorporated in the MP10 matrix. The resulting films were characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, and it was found that nanocomposites were intercalated in nature. Mechanical studies established that addition of 3 wt% MMT gave best results in terms of mechanical properties. However, thermo-gravimetric and dynamic mechanical analysis proved that decomposition and glass transition temperature increased with increasing MMT concentration from 1 to 5 wt%. It was also observed that moisture absorption and water vapor permeability studies gave best result in the case of 3 wt% MMT. Optical clarity of the nanocomposite films was not much affected with loading of MMT. In vitro drug release studies showed that MC/PEC/MMT based films can be used for controlled transdermal drug delivery applications., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)